October 2007 - Page 2 of 3 - TouringPlans.com Blog

Archive for October, 2007

Those of you who collect Disney Monorails toys will be happy to know they are now selling Monorail Green. It is similar to the last available monorail (Blue) in that has functioning doors and comes with playset characters.

We’ve previously reported that the Earth Globe was set to be absent from Illuminations: Reflections of earth at Epcot several times in the past year so that it could undergo upgrades and enhancements. We’ve gotten word that the newest date to try and bring it out of the show for the needed repairs will be at the end of the Food and Wine Festival. Will it happen? Who knows, but know that it could.

An interesting find at Epcot: the installation of high end color-changing LED lights for the freshly planted palm trees around Spaceship Earth.

The lights are the Color Kinetics C-Splash series and are capable of 16.7 million colors. It should create a stunning visual at night.

It also follows an overall trend since they installed color changing lights in Spaceship Earth’s corporate lounge, as seen in this video taken earlier this year during the Flower and Garden Festival.

Whether or not these additions are pointing to a larger overhaul of the lighting system on the exterior of Spaceship Earth remains to be seen, but they do suggest a new look for Epcot’s main walkways at night.

The exterior is nearing completion over at Toy Story Mania and according top the grapevine, the interior is nearly complete as well.

Cast Members to be on the pre-opening “Test and Adjust” crew have been selected and will begin staffing the attraction within the next few weeks. Once they’re inside, we’re hoping to hear more details about the attraction in general.

The exterior is obviously based on Pixar’s own studio facade with the brickwork and black I-beams.

The general opening of Toy Story Mania is said to occur in summer of 2008. With the opening of Block Party Bash in March it’s not a illogical jump to conclude that Toy Story Mania may open in the March-April period as well.

If anything, we hope they have reopened the walkway infront of the building prior to the large Christmas and New Years crowds, as the closure of the avenue does make it a bit tedious to navigate the park.

Minnie’s Country House will be closed for refurbishment January 1, 2008 to February 1, 2008. Those in search of the famed mouse should consult a Cast Members at the parks in order to find an alternate location.